Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Rollins Is Headed to Philly

The Phillies should have Jimmy Rollins back in the lineup tomorrow night.

Rollins, who has been on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf since April 13, flew from Florida to Philadelphia today.

He will be evaluated tomorrow, and assuming that goes well he will be activated before their series opener against the Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. Rollins has played in one rehabilitation game with Single-A Clearwater, plus a few extended Spring Training games. Reports have been good.

“What we missed is that Jimmy is an all-around player,” Manuel said. “You can’t put his value in one area. He can run. He can throw. He’s a switch-hitter. He can steal bases. He can make deep throws on the cutoff. He can play defense. He’s an all-around player. He’s one of the better players in the league. Yeah, we’ve missed him. Our lineup is better with Jimmy in there.”

Wilson Valdez took Rollins’ place on the roster, so he likely will be bumped to make room for him. Because Valdez is out of options, he would have to clear waivers to remain with the Phillies.

*

Stats Inc. passed these along Friday. Sorry I didn’t post them until tonight:

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is off to a terrific start, aided by his patience at the plate. He leads all National League regulars by averaging 4.55 pitches per plate appearance, and he’s been productive when he gets ahead in the count. When he goes up 2-0, Ruiz is 6-for-8 with 15 walks, good for a .913 OBP. He’s been retired only twice in 23 plate appearances after starting 2-0. He’s reached all nine times he has gone 3-1 in the count, going 3-for-3 with six walks. In 20 full-count situations, Ruiz is 4-for-12 (.333) with eight walks and a .600 OBP.

Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard saw breaking stuff on 39.7 percent of all pitches he faced during the 2009 season, the highest percentage among all major leaguers who qualified for the batting title. The Yankees fed him a steady dose of breaking balls in the World Series, a tack that proved successful, so it’s not surprising that Howard is seeing an even higher percentage of breaking stuff this spring. It’s currently a single-season high of 41.1 percent, which again leads all batting title qualifiers.

*

The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. His Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

3 Comments

Kudos to Valdez and Castro both of whom filled in well . BUT Jimmy is the most valuable position player on the team. This team needs him. Since 2007 he has made these guys believe that they COULD win. It’s what WINNER’S do!

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.